HSBC offers retention procuration fee

HSBC UK has made product switching available to its mortgage brokers and introduced a procuration fee following intermediary demand and "significant" investment in its broker platform.

The lender has also added to its intermediary panel, bringing the total number of partners to 88 and the number of brokers with access to HSBC's residential mortgage range to more than 13,000.

The bank has set its procuration fee at 0.2 per cent for both residential and buy-to-let mortgages, effective where the mortgage originated in HSBC's intermediary channel.

A HSBC spokesperson said the fee will be payable when existing customers take a new product or post maturity of their current mortgage and if the borrower is on a fixed-rate, term tracker, lifetime tracker or standard variable rate.

Chris Pearson, head of intermediary mortgages at HSBC UK, said the changes were influenced by broker feedback.

He said: "Following significant investment in our broker platform and significant improvements to make the application process more frictionless, we are now able to accept applications from brokers with returning clients looking to product switch, plus introducing associated procuration fees, more signs of our continued support for the intermediary market."

Michelle Andrews, head of mortgages and savings at HSBC UK, said much of the product development seen at the bank over the last year had been dedicated to first-time buyers - a demographic Ms Andrews said relied on brokers the most.

She said: "We are making some step changes to our processes to ensure we provide excellent service to customers, whether direct or through brokers, and are commitment to ensuring our products are attractive and take into account wants and needs of modern homeowners.

"While we are looking at exciting developments this year that will help make HSBC a compelling choice, we hope our current suite of products and the new proc fees for switches will help brokers ensure their clients get the product that best suits their needs."

David Hollingworth, associate director of communications at L&C Mortgages, said: "To have a lender the of HSBC's size joining the increasing number who are developing their services to help brokers can only be a good thing, particularly as the bank is so keenly priced."